By Marcus Schneck, mschneck@pennlive.com
Big bucks with huge racks of antlers have become more common in Pennsylvania, particularly since the Pennsylvania Game Commission imposed statewide antler restrictions in 2002.
A trophy set of antlers is often obvious to anyone seeing the buck carrying them, but how one trophy buck stacks up against another comes down to a measurement and scoring system created by the Boone & Crockett Club.
The oldest wildlife conservation organization in North America, Boone & Crockett was founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell. Since 1902, the club has been scoring and recording trophy big game to support wildlife management and conservation, draw sportsmen into the conservation movement and promote the concept of sportsmanship and fair play by only accepting trophies taken in fair chase.
Boone & Crockett scores for deer are based on a system of measurements of the antler beams and points. The beam of the antler is the central stalk that originates at the top of the animal's head. A point, in the antler-scoring world, is a projection of antler off the beam at least an inch long.
The club ranks antlered trophies into 2 broad categories: A nontypical deer carries a set of antlers with abnormal points that arise from the beam in spots other than the top of the beam. A typical deer has nothing out of place.
Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has used the Boone & Crockett scoring system since launching its Big Game Measuring Program with the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association in 1965.
That program annually results in the commission’s “Pennsylvania Big Game Records” book, which lists all the Pennsylvania bucks that have scored above certain marks in the Boone & Crockett system: 140 for typical antlers taken by firearms, 115 for typical by archery, 160 for nontypical by firearms and 135 for nontypical by archery.
No new top 10 typical firearms bucks were recorded for the 2018 edition of the book, leaving the top of that group as follows: Fritz Janowski, of Gillett, 189-0/8, 1943, Bradford County; Ivan Parry, of Graysville, 184-6/8, 1974 in Greene County; Chester Allison, of Harleysville, 182-5/8, 1951 in Blair County; Jeffrey Sitlinger, of Peachtree, Ga., 182-0/8, 2010 in Dauphin County (shown in the photo); Floyd Reibson, of Forksville, 180-4/8, 1931 in Sullivan County; John Millett, of Clarks Summit, 179-5/8, 2011 in Lackawanna County; Raymond Miller, of Bedford, 177-5/8, 1957 in Bedford County; Perry Kinley, of Ridgway, 177-0/8, 1920 in Jefferson County; John Zerbe, of McClure, 176-5/8, 1936 in Mifflin County; and Clyde Rinehuls, of Sayre, 176-0/8, 1944 in Bradford County.
The top typical firearms bucks added in 2018 were entered by John Mennetti Sr., of Rossiter, 164-0/8, 2017, in Jefferson County, tied for 73rd; Raymond Kenney, of Mercer, 162-6/8, 2017, in Mercer County, tied for 91st; George Love, 162-6/8, tied for 91st; George Love, of Tamaqua, 162-5/8, 2016, in Schuylkill County, tied for 93rd; Thomas Weidinger Jr., of Pittsburgh, 162-0/8, 2017, in Beaver County, tied for 104th; Peter Szoszorek, of Erie, 161-5/8, 2017, in Warren County, tied for 114th; Charles Fayash, of Brockton, 161-3/8, 2016, in Schuylkill County, tied for 122nd; Heather Geer, of Mt. Jewett, 157-4/8, in McKean County, tied for 223rd; Ronald Aurand, of Lewistown, 156-4/8, 2017, in Mifflin County, tied for 254th; Boomer Wheeler, of Millerton, 154-6/8, in 2016, in Tioga County, tied for 323rd.
A new No. 3 nontypical firearms buck was added to the 2018 book. It was taken by Edwin Tokarcik, of Mount Pleasant, in 2016 in Westmoreland County and scored 224-3/8.
Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com
The other top 10 nontypical firearms bucks are Edward Dodge, of Knox, 238-6/8, 1942, in Erie County, No. 1; Michael Abrosia, of Edinburg, 230-2/8, in Lawrence County, 2001, No. 2; A. L. Pouty, of Tampa, Florida, 213-6/8, in Lycoming County, 1949, No.4; Frank Cafardi, of Pittsburgh, 209-5/8, in Crawford County, 2016, No. 5; Ralph Landis, of Port Royal, 207-7/8, in Juniata County, 1951, No. 6; Robert Rozetar, of Pottsville, 207-4/8, 1948, in Schuylkill County, No. 7; Hanna Harris, of Danville, 204-3/8, 2010, in Northumberland County, No. 8; Virgil Kidd, of Mertztown, 203-3/8, 2009, in Lehigh County, No. 9; David Collins, of Jonestown, 203-1/8, 2010, in Chester County, tied for No. 10; Jim Rowles, of Troutville, 203-3/8, 2000, in Jefferson County, tied for No. 10.
Also new to the nontypical firearms ranks in the 2018 book are Matthew Stabley, of Lock Haven, 188-5/8, 2017, in Clinton County, No. 33; Kirby Shaffer, of Hollsopple, 179-78, 2016, in Somerset County, tied for 60th; Kevin Schill, of Lucinda, 167-78, 2017, in Clarion County, tied for 124th; Abby Heatley, of Roaring Branch, 166-48, 2017, in Tioga County, tied for 131st; Jeff Wiseman, of Athens, 164-2/8, 2017, in Bradford County, tied for 146th; Madison Schill, of Lucinda, 163-3/8, 2017, in Clarion County, tied for 151st.
In her sixth year of hunting, in 2017, Jessica Herzog, of Lebanon, entered the record book in the typical archery category. Her Dauphin County buck scored 159-7/8 and is No. 43 in the category.
Other new typical archery bucks in the 2018 book are Ronald Shaulis, of West Newton, 185-4/8, 2017, in Westmoreland County, No. 1 (shown in photo); Joseph Repasky, of Titusville, 176-2/8, 2017, in Crawford County, No. 3; Donald Ryan Jr., of Walnutport, 168-5/8, 2017, in Northampton County, No. 12; Jason Fulmer, of Franklin, 166-5/8, 2017, in Venango County, No. 17; Mark Hogan, of Beaver Falls, 160-5/8, 2016, in Beaver County, No. 38; Miles Sampsel, of Erie, 157-7/8, 2017, in Erie County, 157-7/8, No. 51; Mahlon Miller, of Washington, Indiana, 157-3/8, 2016, in Crawford County, tied for 61st; Philip DeWire, of Zionsville, 155-08, 2017, in Lehigh County, tied for 83rd; Raymond Letizia, of Hastings, 155-08, 2017, in Cameron County, tied for 83rd; Susan Luse, of Centre Hall, 153-7/8, 2017, in Centre County, tied for 93rd; Louis Puopolo, of Matamoras, 153-7/8, 2016, in Pike County, tied for 93rd; David Tompkins, of Dushore, 153-2/8, 2017, in Sullivan County, No. 99; Frank Kintzel, of Pine Grove, 152-5/8, 2017, in Schuylkill County, tied for 106th; Jody Schaaf, of Gilbert, 151-5/8, 2017, in Bradford County, tied for 123rd; Todd Pritts, of Rockwood, 150-3/8, 2017, in Somerset County, tied for 140th; Darin Putt, of Lebanon, 150-3/8, 2017, in Dauphin County, tied for 140th; John Efaw Jr., of Washington, 149-2/8, 2008, in Washington County, tied for 157th; Ronald Kingsley, of Columbia Cross Roads, 148-3/8, 2017, in Bradford County, tied for 177th; Gregory Wilkes, of Edinboro, 147-7/8, 2017, in Crawford County, tied for 184th; Joseph Medvec, of Sharon, 145-4/8, 2017, in Mercer County, tied for 229th; Michael Geib, of Carlisle, 145-08, 2017, in Potter County, No. 244; Jason Wolfe, of Ulster, 144-1/8, 2017, in Bradford, No. 206; Thomas Hoffsmith, of Palmyra, 142-2/8, 2017, in Bradford County, No. 329.
Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com
New in the nontypical archery category are William Andrews, of Duncannon, 204-7/8, 2017, in Perry County, No. 3; Michael Buzard, of Tionesta, 198-1/8, 2017, in Clarion County, No. 7; Lawson Hendricks, of Mifflintown, 196-4/8, 2015 in Juniata County, No. 9; Chris Radney, of Canton, 180-3/8, 2017, in Bradford County, No. 26; Edward Casciato, of Pittsburgh, 179-0/8, 2018, in Beaver County, No. 28; Nathan Sullivan, of Allison Park, 174-4/8, 2017, in Warren County, No. 31; Michael Nemec, of Carnegie, 157-1/8, 2017, in Allegheny County, No. 68; Richard Bidwell, of Meadville, 155-7/8, 2017, in Crawford County, tied for 72nd; Jace Myers, of Ford City, 151-2/8, 2016, in Armstrong County, No. 85; Pete Murray, of Lewistown, 151-0/8, 2016, in Mifflin County, No. 86; Joshua Servello, of Northern Cambria, 144-5/8, 2017, in Armstrong County, No. 105; James Johnson, of Athens, 142-2/8, 2016, in Bradford County, No. 112; Ralph Jennings, of Willow Street, 139-6/8, 2017, in Lancaster County, No. 116; John Gibson Jr., of Indiana, 138-1/8, 2015, in Indiana County, No. 120; Craig Kinney, of Port Allegany, 137-1/8, 2017, in McKean County, No. 121.
For more about deer hunting in Pennsylvania:
- Where's the best deer hunting in Pennsylvania?
- What's the outlook for deer hunting season, starting Monday?
- In bear and deer hunting, 20 things where the law says no
- Deer hunting season opens Monday: Do you know the history of deer in Pennsylvania?
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